The Australian Government is about to condemn more animals to suffer on live export ships. Please read more and take the suggested actionsIf you’re outraged that the Australian Government is willing to let more animals languish on live export ships, you can let them know by:

“One robin caged and Heaven’s mad! But when to just that one you add vast flocks of battered battery birds and half starved calves in crated herds and multitudes of tethered sows in narrow stalls – these horrors rouse all Heaven to a rage so wild it’s former rage seems a wonderous mild.”Patrick Allen

Recently I came across the following heartbreaking video concerning the abandonment of 50,000 chickens, living sentient beings trapped in tiny wire floor cages abandoned and left to starve to death.

Watch the video of the rescue in 2012 of some of the birds – sadly out of 50,000 only about 4,000 were able to be rescued thanks to the determination of Animal Place volunteers.

About the film:
“Go inside the largest rescue of farm animals in California history. Follow Animal Place rescuers as they negotiate the release of 4,460 hens from a battery cage egg farm, where the egg farmer had abandoned 50,000 hens without food for more than two weeks.”

While the dedication and determination of Animal Place and other volunteers is inspiring, the way in which these poor creatures where treated is appalling. Many of those who survived the horror of two weeks without water or food where systematically piled up, shoved into tin boxes and gassed. It brought to mind the comparison of factory farming with the evils of the holocaust. The rescuers had to contend with Animal Services who would not at first allow the hens that were still alive to be rescued. Undaunted Animal Place volunteers went to the farm but were told to vacate the property while thousands of suffering birds were gassed to death and thousands more dead animals were scoop up in dump trucks like so much garbage .

4:00 pm – “Doing a last check of an event posting when I see the headline, ’50,000 hens starved in Turlock’.” – Marji Beach, Education Manager
4:05-5:30 pm – “Calls are put into the Stanislaus County Animal Control department and Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary, located an hour from the egg farm. We send two staff from Vacaville down immediately.” – Kim Sturla, Executive Director
7:00 pm – “I call the director at animal services. She is told by state veterinarians we can’t take any birds. I won’t take no for an answer. There are thousands still alive.”– Kim Sturla
8:00 pm – “We arrive at the farm, only to be told to get off the property. We watch dump truck after dump truck come to gather dead birds. We can see workers gas the suffering hens.” – David Phinney, Animal Care Coordinator

Both of the cases above and many others are shocking disasters which are often preventable. The first was claimed to be lack of communication about who was supposed to feed the birds, the second was a fire one of many that are experienced in factory farming in some cases by heating equipment malfunctions or placement too close to flammable material. However notwithstanding the truth of the matter concerning these tragedies the day-to-day suffering of these animals for the duration of their entire lives – about two years for a hen who will be sent to slaughter when she is begins lay fewer eggs – is a tragedy itself . For the duration of these two years hens, having previously had their beaks painfully clipped, are cramped together in tiny cages with 8 or 9 others birds on wire floors stacked one on top of another, standing in their own feces, sometime with the decaying bodies of dead hens. They have never seen the light of day, the warmth of the sun. They have never felt a cool breeze ruffle their feathers, they have never walked on earth or took dust baths as is natural for chickens. Their entire life experience is a tiny cage like the one below where they will lay 200 eggs each year – normally a hen lays about forty to fifty eggs.

What of the male chicks ?

Shockingly male chicks are ground up alive, suffocated or gassed because they cannot lay eggs and they are not suitable for chicken-meat production.

“Along with defective and slow-hatching female chicks, they are trashed as soon as they hatch. Upon breaking out of their shells, instead of being sheltered by a mother’s wings, the newborns are ground up alive, electrocuted, or thrown into trashcans where they slowly suffocate on top of one another, peeping to death while a human foot stomps them down to make more room for more chicks.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke

Related Links

Consider:“The natural life span of a chicken is six or seven years.The original ancestors of chickens produced as few as twelve to twenty eggs each year .

Domesticated chickens originated from red jungle fowl, forest dwelling birds of south east Asia. Modern chickens despite selective breeding retain many of the natural behaviours of their wild ancestors.

Chickens contrary to popular belief are intelligent, more so than your cat or dog, and are inquisitive creatures. Researchers have discovered that they are good at solving problems. Chickens it seems are more clever in some respects than small children when it comes to understanding that recently moved objects still exist, a concept that small children do not understand. In their natural environment chickens recognise one another, they form friendships and develop social hierarchies. Chickens enjoy dust baths, more about this later, and roost in trees. They love and care for their young. In the wild they make nests to tend their offspring. The maternal instinct is strong in the hen, she bonds with her chicks before they are born by turning her eggs five times each hour while clucking to the baby chicks inside, who reciprocate by chirping in return both to their mother and each other.”

This treatment of sentient animals is evil, pure evil there can be no excuse, no justification. The motivation is profit of course, as is everything nowadays. Such barbarity has no place in any civilized society. If you eat eggs – and don’t forget in most biscuits, cakes, puddings and any baked product there are eggs – you are contributing to this cruelty and it will never end, if we do not make it end we are part of the problem and perpetuate this cruelty. For most of us the most effective way is for you to change your diet and go vegan, doing so not only helps the chickens and other animals but improves your health and the environment.

If you are still not convinced that changing to a plant-based diet to become vegan is the right thing to do for the sake of these gentle, helpless birds who are sentient beings like you or I, like your cat or dog, than look at the information below.

Scroll down for more information.

Warming! Graphic ImagesI have kept this separate as the images and videos below are disturbing and may be traumatic for caring sensitive people who may have in any case made the compassionate choice.

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Warning some people may find the following graphics and videos disturbing

Below

A dumpster behind a hatchery for laying hens is filled with dead and dying male chicks who are of no economic value to the egg industry.

​This video is deeply disturbing and I could not watch it all. How these people can work day after day torturing and killing these tiny helpless creatures is beyond my comprehension. It is profoundly depressing to see such lack of compassion. It is disturbing in the extreme to know people like this exist and live among us.

This is shocking beyond your wildest imagination

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Her job was to lay eggs for Australia’s biggest egg company. But you won’t believe where this hen lives… Help end this cruelty: http://www.BanTheBatteryCage.com

Most eggs come from chickens in battery cages. These hens will never touch the ground or have room to stretch their wings. They will live above piles of their own excrement for their entire lives.”

“Our grandchildren will ask us one day: Where were you during the Holocaust of the animals? What did you do against these horrifying crimes? We won’t be able to offer the same excuse for the second time, that we didn’t know.”Dr. Helmut Kaplan

Want to watch well cared for sheep relaxing in a clean barn or grazing in pasture, cared for, respected and loved as all living creatures should be.

It is such a refreshing change to see animals so contented, well cared for.

Below you will find live streamed videos of animals atFarm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen. NY Further down you will find a series of videos concerning the sanctuary’s rescued animals and the work that Farm Sanctuary do to provide a safe environment for hundreds of ill treated and abused animal victims of agriculture, particularly factory farming.

Susie Coston In the Sheep Barn – Farm Sanctuary Live Chat 10/18/17

Join Susie Coston National Shelter Director in the Farm Sanctuary sheep barn as she answers viewers questions and shares with us her expert knowledge on farm animals.

I spent a few hours watching these videos and the ones further down which helped restore my faith in human nature, that there are people who care and are willing to help the abused and exploited victims of factory farming who are incarcerated, tortured and violently killed to satisfy the appetites of thoughtless or ignorant, and maybe even uncaring people, for a food that is not natural and which they do not need.

While for the most part sheep here in the UK are not confined to windowless factory farms, tethered as are cows to a stall with hardly space to move or sit down, except on concrete, or encased in crates as are pigs, sheep nonetheless suffer.

I live in close proximity to the North Yorkshire Dales and moors and other areas of sheep farming having moved some years ago from the south east to the North. I once enjoyed our many trips to these scenic places designated as National Parks or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. However as time went by the reality of the cruelty and neglect that takes place in these so-called natural places has opened up a whole new perspective and while I continue to visit and to appreciate to some degree the remotesness and semi wildness – though in reality this land is managed not only for sheep farming but also for the cruel pastime of shooting and hunting – this location does not seem to have the appeal it once did.

In contrast to the happy contented lively and interactive sheep in the videos above, here in the cold bleakness of the dales in winter and indeed all year round to some degree, there is much suffering. Unlike the sheep in the above videos most sheep in the dales and other places, including fields you pass by in your car without much thought, have their rear ends permanently covered with mud or feces which remains until they are sheared and go through the sheep dip once each year. Many sheep limp, the result of painful arthritis, no doubt untreated with medication. I have come across sheep with hoof rot simply left to get on with it. Sometimes there are sheep who cannot put their leg to the ground, it hangs limp by their side as they struggle to walk. I report as much as possible to the RSPCA who may take action themselves or they will contact the local council department responsible for the welfare of so called livestock . I have contacted farmers if it is possible to locate them, who assured me they are aware of the situation or will look into it. Sometimes I can’t get any help at all. One recent incident was very upsetting when a ranger in the dales fobbed off my report of a sheep walking on three legs with her front leg hanging limp from her side. He rambled on about how common it is – apparently that makes it alright – and how the sheep would soon wander off into the hills and not be located. Incidentally this type of injury or disease where the leg remains hanging limp is not in any case that common and was obviously a severe injury or condition and needed attention.

Basically he could not give a damn and would do nothing. I rang the RSPCA who agreed with me that the sheep needed attention, they contacted the local authority for animal welfare. I never knew the outcome. Since that time I do not enjoy our trips out as it is so depressing to see these poor creatures out in all weathers, many limping, dirty, cold and bedraggled knowing there is little I can do to help them.

Note if you see an injured animal domestic or wild make a note of the location, provide as much detail as you can of the animals whereabouts and the problem with the animal, the more detail you provide the better. Take a photo if possible which you can send them if you cannot stay with the animal.

Now enjoy more Farm Sanctuary videos of happy well cared for animals and work towards a time when this cruelty will be a thing of the past.
​Keep meat and other animal products off your plate:https://www.vegansociety.com/

Down on the Farm: With Farm Animal Whisperer Susie Coston

Reel Life at Farm Sanctuary – Ep. 1: Pasture Rotation – This is one of a series which you should be able to access on the side bar if you watch the video in Youtube.

There are live cams for cows,pigs,turkeysand the Wisconsin pasture along with many other videos of life at Farm Sanctuary. Some of the live cams do not always show much as it all depends on the time of day and what the animals are doing and the weather, right now it is snowing.

We have to ask ourselves what kind of society allows the barbaric hunting of the other species with whom we share this world. In addition to satisfying the perverse pleasure of a minority of people, Wyoming wants to charge tourists $6,000 to hunt a grizzly. Yet again it’s about money – isn’t everything these days.

Please sign as many of the following petitions opposing trophy hunting as you can.

“Few men could endure to watch for five minutes an animal struggling in a trap with a crushed and torn limb. Some will wonder how such cruelty can have been permitted to continue in these days of civilization.”
Charles Darwin

I have to wonder why hunting and indeed all cruelty to animals is allowed to continue despite the overwhelming majority of us who would like to see it banned.

Time to ban worldwide trophy hunting, any hunting.We have to question what kind of government allows its citizens to hunt animals, any animal. The killing of other living beings simply for the sickening pleasure of the emotionally challenged, who frankly need to seriously question their psychological health, needs to be questioned and brought to an end. What kind of person enjoys killing a defenceless animal, and in one of the twitter links below one trophy hunter callously displays his sickening enjoyment, what does that say about him or her? How will we ever have a more peaceful and just world for all, human and non human when we allow such atrocities to take place.
​There is no place in our society for such barbarity.Here are some of the latest trophy hunting outrages you might consider if you are in any doubt, and thankfully the majority of us certainly are not. Yet these atrocities continue as governments do little to nothing to ban them, even condoning, encouraging and sometimes participating as do many MPs here in the UK and in the US Trump of course condones his trophy hunting sons.

So that nobody forgets his vile deeds, this is @JimmyJohns's founder Jimmy John Liautaud with a few of his 'MANY' trophies. One of them is rumoured to be the last female Black #Rhino in the Mangetti National Park.

Born Freee
Shooting Animals For “Sport”
“Born Free is wholly opposed to the killing of animals for sport or pleasure, whether they are wild-born or bred in captivity. We have been working to bring the brutality of this so-called ‘sport’ to the attention of policymakers, enforcement bodies, and the public, for many years.”
Read More:http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/further-activities/trophy-hunting/

The exciting news right now is that Norway are Banning Fur Farming! Norway has 300 fur farms, which breed and kill approximately 700,000 minks and 110,000 foxes every year, so this is a significant progress for the rights of animals not to be exploited abused and killed simply for fashion or to produce garments which are no longer necessary in modern times when there are so many synthetic cruelty free alternatives.

We need also to turn our attention to the plight of sheep, who for many people seem less obvious victims of abuse concerning their exploitation for wool, yet another product that is not necessary and like fur involves horrific abuse.

Please take action and help prevent animal cruelty in the wool industry as sheep are abused and killed for their wool.

This latest exposé shows more of the same—sheep shearers in Australia violently punched these gentle animals in the face and beat and jabbed them in the head with sharp metal shears. The attacks often left the petrified sheep bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth.

After PETA exposed rampant extreme cruelty to sheep across Australia in 2014, the video evidence resulted in landmark cruelty convictions against shearers, and the wool industry assured the public that such abuse would no longer be tolerated. But as this exposé shows, absolutely nothing has changed for sheep, and the cruelty is as severe as ever.”

Please take more action for sheep by signing the following petition – click the Take Action buttonItalian Wool Exposed: Sheep Kicked, Cut, and Killedhttps://investigations.peta.org/sheep-killed-italian-wool/​You can also help sheep by refusing to buy wool.Leave wool and other clothing derived from animals such as mohair and fur out of your wardrobe. There are humane modern fabrics such as cotton, rayon, acrylic, hemp and nylon. Modern synthetic fibres are more versatile, warmer, easy to care for and most importantly humane.I have a fondness for timid gentle sheep whom I often see grazing in the countryside close to where I live, out in all weathers often suffering injuries, neglected, open to the elements, predators and all manner of hazards. Sheep suffer like all farm animals for products we do not need, namely meat and wool.

Please help sheep by changing to a vegan lifestyle and keep wool out of your wardrobe and meat off your plate.

Related Links

Read more about the brutality of the wool industry.

The Wool Industry

“Sheep are gentle individuals who, like all animals, feel pain, fear, and loneliness. But because there’s a market for their fleece and skins, they’re treated as nothing more than wool-producing machines.​If they were left alone and not genetically manipulated, sheep would grow just enough wool to protect themselves from temperature extremes. The fleece provides them with effective insulation against both cold and heat.”https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/wool-industry/

Though the next article was written back in 2014 the brutality continues, nothing has changed for sheep exploited by the wool industry.

A wool jumper is just as cruel as a mink coatA Peta film shows workers who beat, kick, stamp on, throw, mutilate and even kill sheep as they shear them.

“The investigators saw shearers violently punch struggling sheep, and beat and jab them in the face with sharp shears, leaving the gentle animals bleeding from their eyes, nose and mouth. One shearer repeatedly twisted and bent a sheep’s neck, finally breaking it.”

“Most shearers are paid by volume, not by the hour, which means that they have an incentive to work as quickly as they can, with little regard for the sheep’s welfare. Investigators recorded shearers who processed up to 27 sheep per hour and up to 35 lambs. Such fast and often violent work can lead to severe cuts on sheep’s abdomens, hindquarters and limbs – even on sheep’s penises. Large swaths of skin were also cut or ripped off the bodies of many sheep by the shearers.

More and more people are changing to a vegan diet.
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There is now much more help available for you to make this change in your eating habits, a change which not only helps the billions of animals who suffer from cruelty and abuse but also helps protect our environment and your health.

Watch this inspiring film

Here are suggestions to help you make the change if you are not already vegan and if you are the following links will help add variety to your diet and make life easier.

Go Vegan: Change the world.
​Often we feel so powerless to change the world, the onslaught of injustice to both human and nonhuman animals seems relentless overwhelming, however there is one simple thing you can do: Change your diet and go vegan.If you need encouragement why not take the pledge:Go vegan in 30 days with the 30 Day Vegan Pledge with the Vegan SocietySign up via email using the form in this link "and for 30 days you’ll receive advice on all aspects of a vegan diet (including lots of healthy and easy recipes to try out), allowing you to really sink your teeth into the lifestyle."https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/take-vegan-pledge

Related links with advice and information concerning a vegan dietFarm animals are not the only animals whose lives are saved when you change to a vegan diet5 WAYS A VEGAN DIET HELPS TO SAVE NON-FARMED ANIMALShttps://www.livekindly.co/veganism-saves-animals/

“During the course of a Sunday lunch we happened to look out of the kitchen window at our young lambs playing happily in the fields. Glancing at our plates, we suddenly realized that we were eating the leg of an animal who had until recently been playing in a field herself. We looked at each other and said, “Wait a minute, we love these sheep–they’re such gentle creatures. So why are we eating them?” It was the last time we ever did.”Linda and Paul McCartney

There are more actions you can take to help sheep further down. Please take as many as you can.

Spring is here – well if you live in the northern hemisphere it is. Nothing says spring more than baby animals, particularly lambs, though sadly the fate of these tiny creatures mars the pleasure of seeing these sweet gentle beings frolicking in meadows and uplands here in the British countryside. It breaks your heart to know that soon these innocent helpless creatures will be taken from their mothers and brutally slaughtered to provide meat eaters with a food that they do not need and is not natural.

The life of a tiny lamb is short, in general only about four months unless he or she is required for breeding. Some are killed after only 10 weeks, a cruel end to a life which begins with such exuberant joy.

“I do not like eating meat because I have seen lambs and pigs killed. I saw and felt their pain. They felt the approaching death. I could not bear it. I cried like a child. I ran up a hill and could not breathe. I felt that I was choking. I felt the death of the lamb.”Vaslav Nijinsky
​Watch the Life of a Lamb in 60 seconds.
Warning! very shocking images of cruelty.
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This was filmed in farms and slaughter houses in Italy, but much the same happens worldwide. Though the campaign, which was to reduce lamb consumption in Italy for Easter 2015, is a couple of years old the problem of course remains and with the approach of Easter yet more innocent tiny lambs will meet the same fate.

If you eat meat and consume lamb it is likely on average you will have been responsible for the death of 23 lambs in your lifetime.

Lambs just like this one

or the adorable lamb in the video further down who is now safe in a sanctuary.

How about knit wear made from wool, even lambs wool?

Lambs have so little wool so please do not think that someone comes along with a pair of shears and gently cuts their fleece. Lambs wool is of course always taken from slaughtered lambs. Adult sheep inevitably suffer the same fate, even though they may be sheared for a few years prior to slaughter eventually they will be killed for meat. In the meantime other than provide wool, a ewe’s main purpose is to give birth every year until they are too old to do so, at which time they too will be mercilessly killed. Ewes are sent to slaughter from four to eight years old when their breeding days are over.

What of rams? Ever wondered why you see so few rams?

Usually there are about 38 ewes to one ram.

Ram lambs not required for mating are killed within a day or two after being born –they will never smell the sweet air of spring or leap and play in the fields.

Wool and meat are all the products of the slaughter and other abuse of a gentle defenceless animal who wishes to live as much as you or I.

Shearing is often a brutal savage experience as you will see in the following video.

If you buy a garment made of wool you support a cruel and bloody industry.There is no excuse, there are plenty of synthetic fibres many of which are in my opinion warmer than wool, easier to care for and are more durable. However even if this was not so, there is never any justification for such cruelty to another sentient being. Wool belongs to lambs and sheep. It evolved to protect them from severe weather, their fleece effectively providing insulation against both cold and heat. At one time prior to human interference sheep grew just enough wool to protect them from extreme temperatures, they naturally shed their wool in warmer weather.

Read about the cruelty that lies behind the wool industry including museling :

“In Australia, where more than 50 percent of the world’s merino wool—which is used in products ranging from clothing to carpets—originates, lambs are forced to endure a gruesome procedure called “mulesing,” in which huge chunks of skin are cut from the animals’ backsides, often without any painkillers.”

It all seems so idyllic when you see tiny lambs gambolling on a warm summer’s day and you see all the hype on TV and elsewhere about lambing.

The truth of the matter is much different.

Did you know that rather than being born in the spring as the farming industry would have you believe, millions of lambs are born in January when it is bitterly cold and when a million of these babies die of hypothermia. This is done to provide meat eaters with lamb for Easter. Over the years farmers have interfered with the natural breeding cycle. High prices are paid for Easter lamb and many farmers have changed this cycle so that lambs are born earlier.

Read about the truth that lies behind sheep farming that the BBC’s popular Lambing Live programme glosses over .

“Although many see it as the ultimate in free-range farming, the seemingly idyllic scene of a ewe and her lambs grazing is misleading. These animals spend their entire lives under human control. Behind the pastoral image lies an industry that relies on the mutilation of baby animals – and where life for many sheep and lambs is short and filled with pain, disease and fear.”Lambing Lies Fact Sheethttp://www.viva.org.uk/resources/campaign-materials/fact-sheets/lambing-lies-fact-sheet

My husband and I are regular visitors to the Yorkshire Dales and Moors and the Durham Dales. It is a delight in spring to see the mothers with their curious playful lambs. They ‘re so full of joy, skipping and jumping or lying close to one another in the summer sunshine. This is of course in April or later. Earlier in the year it is a sad experience to see these tiny lambs huddled near their mothers who also are struggling to survive against the cold of winter, yes I have seen lambs as early as January and most certainly by mid February and early March when the wind can be bitter with driving rain, sleet and snow. The Yorkshire Moors and Dales are beautiful scenic places and on a visit in spring or summer many people are oblivious to the realities of this harsh climate in which these fragile animals have to endure. The lucky ones who survive, if lucky is indeed the correct word, will in a few short months be rounded up and taken to slaughter. There is definitely a different feel to the place when all these tiny beings so full of life are taken away. One weekend you can be driving through or hiking and see hundreds of lambs and their mothers and the following week the hills are bare of these baby creatures, only the mothers remain to face another autumn when once gain they are impregnated and endure the whole miserable cycle again.
​Lambs are beautiful creatures, gentle often friendly. We have had lambs and sometimes their mothers come up to us curious about us as we are about them, though the mothers can be very protective of their offspring and you can be met with loud angry bleats. So unless they readily approach you when hill walking it is best to leave them alone as many sheep are timid creatures.

Lambs and sheep of course are sentient like your dog or your cat:

“Sheep show compassion! Form bonds!

Judge for yourself.

Jeffery Massom in this book The pig who Sang to the Moon tells the story of Rammo, ” a macho two-year old Ramouillet ram” who formed a special and compassionate bond with Whisper, a cow who was born blind.

“Rams tend to be loners, and he was a pretty tough ram, so it seemed unusual that he would take up with a blind member of another species. But he did”

“He would graze next to her all day and guide her about the field, making certain she did not bump into the fence or posts…When she had a calf , Shout, sired by an Angus bull, Rammo behaved paternally toward the young animal, more so than even to his own offspring, several bouncy lambs. Whisper lived to be four years and than died in 1996 of a viral infection. Rammo mourned her a long time, standing by her dead body, calling and calling”

“Each year over 4 million sheep die of cold and hunger, the complications of pregnancy, injury, infestation and illness such as pneumonia and exposure. Each year one million lambs die of exposure. Often blamed on foxes, in reality the high losses are the direct result of neglect and exploitation by farmers themselves.”“The life of a tiny lamb is short, in general only about four months unless he or she is required for breeding. Some are killed after only 10 weeks. Ram lambs not required for mating are killed within a day or two after being born. Ewes are killed from four to eight years after their breeding days are over. The meat from older sheep is called mutton and is less popular than lamb and used for processed foods.”http://www.think-differently-about-sheep.com/Animal-Rights-Sheep.htm

The following from PETA was in my e-mail box a while back.
​Chicks Burned to Death for Eggs

"There's only one industry in which throwing babies into a blazing fire, crushing them alive in packed drums, and pouring soapy water into a bucket of them to drown them slowly is standard practice: the one that uses animals for food. What these hatcheries in India do to baby chicks is beyond sickening and must stop now."

The Indian egg and chicken meat industry—just like in the U.S.—kills millions of unwanted chicks every year. These are some of their stories.

Warning! Disturbing images. I could not watch the video, just reading about what happens to these helpless tiny birds is horrifying enough. The pledge is right at the bottom of the webpage if you cannot cope with seeing the suffering inflicted on helpless creatures.

I have seen via the internet some shocking abuse to animals that makes my heart ache, such as the Gadhimi festival(now banned as a result of intensive campaigning) and the day-to-day abuse in abattoirs, it never ends and you think there can never be anything more awful until you see the next shocking cruel treatment of helpless animals. Burning alive baby chicks is vile, it turns my stomach makes my heart sink ..well it not easy really to described how awful this makes me feel. The agony of these baby animals cannot be underestimated.

It is important to note that it is standard practice here in the UK and elsewhere for baby male chicks to be ground alive along with other horrific abuses.

Please read the following article, be aware that there are disturbing images and video.

In China baby male ducks are caught in a net and spooned into hot water, in which they are scalded to death.

Be outraged at China for killing male ducklings, but remember it happens here too:

"Thousands of baby ducks are caught in a net and spooned into hot water, in which they are scalded to death.This horrific, mass-scale killing is all because they are deemed useless to the commercial egg industry."Sound familiar?If not, it should – because everyday on British farms, thousands of male baby chicks are ground up, suffocated and gassed to death for exactly the same reason."

Warning! Shocking, horrifying. The fact that people can do this to tiny chicks is beyond my ability to comprehend. Heartless, callous, inhuman.

"Baby chicks' first day of life is hell. Experience what it's like from their perspective."

s fromIn all cases thousands... well it has to be millions world-wide of these defenceless animals are horrifically killed because they are considered useless to the commercial egg industry - they can't lay eggs. This happens also here in the UK, the USA , Australia and most other countries

Thinking about this - and yes it is often hard to shift such images from ones mind, such thoughts of dreadful cruelty linger a long time - I thought it might be useful in considering why it is important to go vegan. The more of us who become vegan the less suffering there will be for animals, obvious right?

Take Action
Please sign the pledge but most importantly consider going vegan. Cut eggs from your diet today. It is easier than you think. It will stop this cruelty and will improve your health and is a factor against heart disease.

There is just so much help and advice available to you, it is not possible to include it all here. Just enter Go Vegan, Vegan recipes or similar into your favourite search engine and you will find an abundance of advice along with delicious recipes.

There is no need to feel deprived. You can still cook cakes which satisfy even a very sweat tooth which tastes like any other cake. Try this yummy trifle my family and I enjoyed this last Christmas: https://www.vegansociety.com/resources/recipes/cakes-desserts/trifle - it's really delicious with the use of thick Soya cream instead of dairy cream . I used SoyaToo! Soy Whip.

Even if you don't like vegan alternatives, please think of the animals. Really should tiny defenceless chicks and other animals be so cruelly treated so you can have food that you do not need to sustain you, so that you can have a brief moment of pleasure?
​Related Links
More Reasons to Go Veganhttp://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/reasons-go-vegan/

Help save Orangutans and other animals from extinction as a result of the irresponsible cultivation of palm oil.

I am sure you are aware of the environmental damage as a result of the cultivation of palm oil, in particular the loss of habitat for many animals including Orangutans who in countries such as Sumatra are under threat of extinction as their forest home is being felled and turned into oil palm plantations on a massive scale.

Firstly please sign and share the following petition:“The habitats of iconic endangered species like tigers, orangutans, and rhinoceros are going up in flames, and being replaced with palm tree plantations.Palm tree oil is one of the hottest commodities on the planet — it’s inexpensive, trans fat-free, and can be found in roughly fifty percent of all market products, according to Rainforest Action Network. But our excessive use of palm oil has come with a significant cost: the homes and lives of the most beautiful creatures on the planet.”

Orangutan Project“Indonesia is home to some of the most rich and biodiverse rainforest in the world.It contains over 80 endemic species and some of the world’s most unique and iconic endangered wildlife such as the orangutan, elephant and tiger. “Continue reading alsosuggested actions such as Join the Palm Oil Resistance Movementhttp://www.orangutan.org.au/palm-oil

While palm oil is an ingredient of so many things you consume or use it can seem like a daunting task to cross it off your shopping list but try to avoid if an alternative exists or the product is not vital or failing that buy from manufacturers that use a sustainable source – more about sustainable palm oil further down. I think it may put people off if it is suggested to avoid palm oil entirely which may be virtually impossible and as such may make it seem like the situation is hopeless.

Help to stop the destruction of habitat for the cultivation of palm oil by writing to manufacturers and food producers

Take Action

Where a product lists palm oil as one of its ingredients why not write to the manufacturer stating your objections and ask them to use another type of oil or use palm oil from a sustainable sourceHere is an example of a letter to Sainsbury’s which sell products produced by palm oil from sustainable sources and also palm oil from unstainable sources, – in other words grown on land from cleared rain forests, sources that result in deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty and extinction.

Sample Letter

HiI have been buying your products for many years, and it has been awhile since I checked out the ingredients.However recently as a result of worldwide concern over the use of palm oil I decided to once again look at the ingredients and was shocked to find that in many cases these ingredients include palm oil.

Is your palm oil from a sustainable source?

If it is it might be an idea to indicate this on the packet, if it isn’t please consider switching to a sustainable source or using another type of oil.

I am sure you are aware of the environmental damage as a result of the cultivation of palm oil in particular the loss of habitat for many animals including Orangutans who in countries such as Sumatra are under threat of extinction as their forest home is being felled and turned into oil palm plantations on a massive scale: http://www.orangutan.org.au/palm-oil

Yours Sincerely

The contact details of all retailers are available on their websites. Don’t forget to check with less well known retailers anddon’t assume that if a product is vegan or vegetarian that this means that the palm oil that they invariably use is from a sustainable source. You can read more about sustainable palm oil here:http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/Whats_the_issue.php – as you will read there are still problems with sustainable forest. The best solution would be not to grow palm oil at all.

However this is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future. Please therefore consider the following:

Should we boycott palm oil?Palm oil is here to stay for the indefinite future. The vast majority is consumed in countries in Asia and the Middle East where rainforest conservation is a low priority and consumer demand for sustainable products is negligible. If the American, European and Australian NGOs fighting to save the rainforests call for a boycott, then the companies that use palm will have no incentive to purchase it from sustainable sources. After all, why would companies spend more money on sustainable palm if the people who care about sustainability aren’t buying it? That is why many NGOs argue that demanding and buying responsible palm oil will, over time, protect the remaining forests more than boycotting it will.Continue reading:http://theirturn.net/2015/04/02/sustainable-palm-oil/

Try to avoid palm oil or buy from sustainable resources only.

Simply check the ingredients listHere are a couple of lists of palm oil alternatives which may or may not be available in your country. When it doubt check with the manufacturer.

​About Vegan Rambles

​This section of my website is for random comments concerning veganism, animal rights, and other matters concerning the animals with whom we share this world. Also included are links to articles, blog entries, petitions and other action you can take to help animals, our fellow human beings and the environment along with any items of interest I come across on the internet.

This is an animal rights website it is based upon vegan ethics, therefore from time to time we may also include human rights issues.